So what is the alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis for the Dogon myths7 The Dogons could have learned of European Sirius lore in the 1920's from traders, explorers or missionaries, many of whom are avid amateur astronomers. According to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. Somehow, Temple and I have never gotten our disputes off on the right foot. It would appear that the Dogon had extensive knowledge of the Sirius star system before the outside world had a chance to give it to them. Other Temple claims, including some wild assertions from The Secrets of the Great Pyramid, can as easily be checked and as easily demolished. But was anything left out? The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. (Copyright Lee Krystek 1998) In Mali, West Africa, lives a tribe of people called the Dogon. Obviously, no Earth-based species was flying to other stars back then! But that doesn't stop Temple. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. The Nine became part of the UFO and New Age mythology and many claim to be in contact with them. WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . This would have wreaked havoc on the climate of any planets orbiting Sirius A. But other observers disagree. I suspect not.". Robert Temple, who spent eight years studying mythology, is convinced that he can trace the Sirius-B information back to the Sumerians. [8][9], In 1978, astronomer Ian Ridpath observes, in an article in the Skeptical Inquirer, "The whole Dogon legend of Sirius and its companions are riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, and downright errors, at least if we try to interpret it literally. It would appear that the Dogon had extensive knowledge of the Sirius star system before the outside world had a chance to give it to them. Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? The main problem with the alleged antiquity of the Dogon "Sirius secrets" legend is that they are reminiscent of European Sirius speculations of the late 1920s. Zeta Reticuli 2 (with about the same temperature and mass as the Sun) is another candidate. Griaule and Dieterlen first described their findings in an article published in French in 1950, but they included no comment about how extraordinary the Dogon knowledge of the invisible companions was. Temple claimed that the Dogon knew about two smaller stars that are closely related to Sirius Sirius B and Sirius C. The mystery was how they had obtained this knowledge, as these companion stars cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Sirius B was first observed in 1862, and had been predicted in 1844 on dynamic grounds. Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. by Liam McDaid. The Dogon. -- in other words, no disproof would follow the failure of his prediction.). stars to the sun, the Alpha Centauri system. In the 1930s, when their research was carried out, Sirius B was known to have existed, even though it was only photographed in 1970. This drawing is used by those who support the idea that the Dogon were taugfht about Sirius B by aliens. Swift appears to have taken the idea of two close (although not necessarily small) moons of Mars from Voltaire's novel Micromegos in which an amphibious aliens or telescopic vision due to melanin. ), many debunked issues keep rising from the dead like vampires springing from their tombs. Were aliens, lost technology or something else entirely involved? To penetrate this supposed disguise (which might not be a disguise at all, other classical scholars maintain), Temple resorts to ancient puns, to hidden meanings, to "garbled versions" which he must amend to fit the theory, to the exchange of consonants in innocent-looking words, to similar-sounding words from The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. Although we can occasionally claim victory (are there any alchemists left? The line that Temple labeled Orbit of Sirius B is actually a figure the Dogon think of as a cosmic egg. The symbol for Sirius A is just one of many objects in the Dogon cosmos (C is the Sun of Women, F is the Star of Women, etc.). "There is some evidence," he points out, "that the Dogon like to frame pictures with an ellipse, and that Temple may be mistaken about the claim that in Dogon mythology the planets and Sirius-B move in elliptical orbits." Temple claims that bas-reliefs of the Sumerian demigod Oannes, which depict a "fish man," prove Nommo, whom the author identifies as the ancestor of the Dogon Nommo myths, was an amphibious extraterrestrial. It is also the home of the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius A. 1995. On this episode of MonsterTalk we chat with archeologist Dr. Ken Feder about giants, biblical archeology and one of the biggest hoaxes in American history. New evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. History Debunked then goes on to demonstrate the type of pseudo-scientific nonsense this has lead to by providing a link to an Ethnomathematics paper and reading out its conclusion. Ask about whatever you want with our Free Rune Readings! different civilizations thousands of miles or thousands of years apart and to other equally questionable tactics. James, P., N. Thorpe, and I. J. Thorpe. Other ancient astronomical records make no mention of Sirius being red. "Legends of the Dogon: belief in a long-solved If so, I wonder why that passage was ever "worth pointing out" in the book in the first place. The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. contact with some ugly, amphibious* Furthermore, there had been a Through the carbon dating of old ritual masks researchers have established the antiquity of the Segui ceremonies. In their original findings, Griaule and Deiterlen make no comment about the Dogon knowledge of Sirius B. The Pleiades are sometimes mentioned, but this is not possible. ancient Egypt.*. Sirius extraterrestrial visitors? WebNew evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. Investigating by Liam McDaid. extraterrestrial visitor tells earthmen about the undiscovered Martian moons. Cook some soul food. [7] Others, such as Marcel Griaule's daughter Genevive Calame-Griaule and an anthropologist, Luc de Heusch, came to criticize Van Beek's dismissal as "political" and riddled with "unchecked speculation", demonstrating a general ignorance of Dogon esoteric tradition. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. the Sirius "Mystery". Beware of mood swings. He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. I did more searching and found that for the keywords Dogon and Sirius B, almost 1000 websites were listed. Sagan, Carl. They dont have telescopes or other A recent newsletter from my local astronomy association still found the Dogon and their mysterious knowledge of Sirius B worth mentioning. The position of the "their purpose in disguising their secrets was to see that the secrets could survive.". Moon is traveling through Cancer today. Clearly the Dogons (in common with many other cultures) were fascinated by Sirius, probably because its position in the sky was crucial to successful agriculture (it's the only star they have a name for.) The "mystery" that is central to the book is how the Dogon allegedly acquired knowledge of Sirius B, the white dwarf companion star of Sirius A, invisible to the naked eye. To Temple, this proved that "geodetic surveys of immense accuracy were thus practiced in ancient Egypt with a knowledge of the The star Sirius is certainly no stranger to mysteries. To recapitulate: Griaule claimed to have been initiated into the secret mysteries of the male Dogon, during which they allegedly told him of Sirius (sigu tolo in their language) and its two invisible companions. Liam is the author of Urban Astronomy and is a Senior Scientist for Skeptic. But Fishs map used an arbitrary viewpoint in space. Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. You dont have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before youll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their advanced astronomical knowledge bestowed, of course, by extraterrestrials. A critical analysis has to investigate the accuracy of such claims, so as to judge the validity of the book's conclusions. ), Another example: "The Dogon also mention a period of rotation of Sirius- Bone yearthis So where does this leave the mysteries of Sirius? Below: The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy (discovered in 2003) is the nearest known galaxy to the centre of the Milky Way. If I were alone in picking on Temple's thesis, he might be able to argue a case for ad hominem persecution. MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. She claimed an alien starship commander had originally shown it to her. Temple offered another line of reasoning. The Dogon legend connected with Sirius, wrote Ridpath, "is riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, and downright errors, at least if we try to interpret it literally." that by the time Griaule arrived, the Dogon may have had a grounding in 20th In 1952, Young was one of nine people present during the first contact with the Council, an event initiated by Andrija Puharich, the man who brought Israeli spoonbender Uri Geller to America. Most important, no one, even within the circle WebAlso there is the fact that they described the Nommo as fish people and you find all kinds of half man/half fish - serpent imagery all over the Mediterranean. WebAlso there is the fact that they described the Nommo as fish people and you find all kinds of half man/half fish - serpent imagery all over the Mediterranean. Temple claims his expert cartographer found these distances "nearly equal." 11.1. Astronomers Carl Sagan and Ian Ridpath, for example, have suggested that the modern astronomical aspects of the complex Dogon mythology entered the lore only recently, probably shortly before the myths were written down in the 1930s. Ridpath concludes that any information that resembles the facts about Sirius was probably ascertained by way of cultural contamination. to other visible stars near Sirius as recognition of the invisible var d=new Date();var n=d.toLocaleDateString();var t=d.toLocaleTimeString(); document.write(n + " " + t); Want to know your future? interpreter. The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. (I must confess I've felt that way about some other people, tool). Nothing fuels religious extremism more than the belief that one has found the absolute moral truth. Legends of the Dogon Belief in a Long-Solved Mystery Resurfaces. The two anthropologists who first studied the Dogon (Griaule and Deiterlen) conducted their research in the 1930s. have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in It has a mass of 2.35 times the mass of the Sun. Where did they get this knowledge, he asks, if not from But here's the rub: there is no archaeological evidence that the specific references to the twin hidden companions of Sirius are anywhere near that old. How did the Dogon obtain this knowledge? This step was taken by others, particularly Temple, in the Sixties and Seventies. Van Beek actually spoke to some of Griaules original informants; he noted that though they do speak about sigu tolo [interpreted by Griaule as their name for Sirius itself], they disagree completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some, it is an invisible star that should rise to announce the sigu [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as sigu tolo. One group says the Dogon got their information from aliens from the Sirian system called Nommos. This is the original Dogon drawing. Second, while it is difficult to obtain precise locations of many archeological sites referred to in The Sirius Mystery, Temple himself shows a map that gives the location of Behdet (31.23 degE, 31.50 degN) and Thebes (32.63 degE, 25.70 degN). You dont have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before youll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their advanced astronomical knowledge bestowed, of course, by extraterrestrials. Temples solution referred to legends of a mythical creature, the god Oannes, who might have been an extraterrestrial, described as descending to Earth from the stars to bring civilising wisdom to the Dogon forefathers. In 1965, Arthur Young gave Robert Temple a French article on the secret star lore of the Dogon, an article written by two French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. Another claim: that in Egypt the oasis of Siwa and the ancient Nile City of Thebes are both equidistant from the shrine city of Behdet, in the delta -- and the same exact distance, too. Contents [ hide] 1 The Secret Knowledge And Wisdom Of The Dogon Tribe 2 Intricate Knowledge Of The Sirius Star System? Based on Carrolls website (skepdic.com), the Dictionary is the definitive short-answer debunking of nearly every thing skeptical. One of the problems the UFO crowd has is providing an answer to the question of where the aliens who visit us come from. Nevertheless the Sumerian Oannes myths, first described by Sagan and Shklovskiy in Intelligent Life in the Universe in 1966, are as intriguing as ever. Since Sirius B is a very dense white dwarf star about the size of Earth, it can only be seen in dark skies with medium-sized telescopes. The introduction to his second edition is so full of paranoid theorizing,2 that although it is quoted extensively and interpolated with favorable comments by Michael Bara (or possibly Richard Hoagland), the most extreme conspiracy claims are omitted.3. 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